Signs of the (Political) Season

In 2000, I participated in a faculty exchange with a technical college instructor from the Netherlands. She visited me in Joliet, Illinois, and I’ll never forget her reaction to our political campaigning. Now this was Bush v. Gore and it was October when she arrived. Not only was every house on every block decked out with campaign signs from the local to national level, but a great many of the houses were also decked out for Halloween with all sorts of garish decorations, orange lights, fake spiderwebbery, etc.

I understood her reaction more clearly when I visited Holland in May. In her rural neighborhood on a section of reclaimed land (reclaimed from the sea through the use of dykes and pumps to keep the water out) the plots were square and even, the trees planted in neat rows, and every house looked the same. There were strict guidelines about construction and they couldn’t even get permission to build a garage for their second car, so had to use a part of the barn instead.  Subtlety was everything and no one announced their opinions, it seemed, through decoration, lawn ornament or signage. When we went into this cute little town center for groceries, I got out of the car and took a photo of some low-roofed buildings with thatched roofs. “Why are you taking a picture of the grocery store?” she asked. That’s the grocery store?? It was completely inconspicuous.

I am used to political campaign signs, expect them, and believe I can tell something about what’s going to happen in the election by seeing them. But this year, for the first time I can remember, there are no signs for the national campaigns. I’ve seen a few bumper stickers, but very few. I have not seen a single Obama or Romney sign anywhere in the 25 mile radius through which I usually drive.

We have two major referendums on the ballot this year in Minnesota. One is for a measure to amend the state constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman. This measure, which has been passed in every state where it’s been on a ballot, seems poised to be defeated in Minnesota. Even a few of my more conservative neighbors have signs up against the amendment. It seems the libertarian impulse (Jesse Ventura recently released a video against the amendment, and many here in Minnesota favor a “live and let live” attitude) will override the conservative social agenda on this referendum. Still, I have to say, although all the signs related to the amendment are aimed at defeating it, there are still very, very few signs at all.

The other major issue is a Voter ID bill. Just this past week I saw one sign go up in support of Voter ID. That’s it. Everyone else is staying mum.

One thing this has done is draw attention to the local races. I particularly like the signs for Goracke, which look like they have some kind of Freemason symbol on them. They’re screen-printed by hand and I’ve seen half a dozen of them around town. I live in an unincorporated area of town, so won’t have the chance to vote for city council.

Another sign I like is in front of the home of a Chinese family. She teaches at the college. Their sign is for a school board member, and it’s literarly made of construction paper, printed on an inkjet or laser printer, and laminated. Reminds me of my campaign for elementary school student council secretary (“Think Sink”– what great buttons we had).

All of this lack of signage gives a sense of calm, reasonableness, Dutch-ness. I do not think it is a lack of engagement that is driving it. I think it’s more a fear of divisiveness in the neighborhood, a sense that we know where we stand and we know we’re not going to convince anyone otherwise, so why go about it.

I admit, I saw the sign supporting the Voter ID law as a provocation! I really want to go up to the guy’s door and ask him why he’s supporting it and try to educate him about the case against it. But surely if he got to the level of putting up the yard sign, he’s done at least that much homework. Right? What would be the point?

On the farm, Tim usually puts up a scarecrow with a pumpkin head each October. We don’t bother with signage because we’re down a dirt road. Also, we’re all three of different political bent, and, yes, we know where we each stand.

It’s commonplace to lament political discourse in the United States these days. It’s descended so far, and no one believes what anyone says, and it’s so ugly and often personal in its attacks. But those signs were kind of the last pure badge of where our loyalties lay. It was a show of excitement, a rallying cry of sorts. In the end, do we have nothing to say publicly– not even wanting to say our candidate’s name?

Go, Goracke!